The One Who Truly Deserved It
by Anime and all that other stuff
Summary: Edward, the heroic Fullmetal Alchemist. He always got the credit. But he always knew that he wasn't the only one who deserved it, and he knew that something bad would happen if he didn't give in to the truth soon. Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

Hi!

This is my first story – after reading tons of other awesome fanfics, I decided that I give a little contribution of my own.

I got plenty of inspirations, and I hope that people will read and review it to help me improve!

(Cuz I suck at writing)

So let's start off, shall we?

It was another day saved by Edward Elric, the heroic Fullmetal Alchemist.

He was the courageous, caring young man with his charming manners, kind heart, and unbelievable alchemy skills. He was famous across the country for being the one to pass the state alchemist exam with the youngest age in history. Everyone loved him.

But only him.

They never noticed the young boy standing beside him, his brother. He was always shadowed by his older brother's overwhelming spotlight; people probably never even knew that he existed. They probably never saw the difference that Al now had a full body instead of being stuck to a suit of armor. No, they were too impressed by Ed's "heroic deeds" to notice the small being in the background – he was often pushed out of the way and usually got little scratches from the rough crowds.

Today, he got a far worse injury.

That peaceful afternoon, Ed and Al were peacefully having a peaceful lunch at a peaceful café in the peaceful weather - and the "peacefulness" was broken by a piercing scream that echoed throughout the peaceful streets. The boys immediately stood up and ran towards the source of the panic.

It was a bunch of robbers trying to rob a bank – that's what they do. The usual. So Ed and Al goes into the bank, beats up the robbers, brings them to the police station, and walk out.

If only it was that easy.

They, the famous Elric brothers, couldn't walk out after committing themselves to such a "heroic deed". They had to be washed over by overjoyed crowds who just couldn't stop their gratefulness from pouring out to these young men who saved their lives by stopping the evil villains.

People, they were robbers. No big deal. But of course, they couldn't say that. They had to accept all the thank-yous and the hugs and the gifts and whatever. But only one person had to get all the credit.

Duh, who do you think? _The _Fullmetal Alchemist, of course. He was the smart, intelligent, kind, brave, strong one. So he must have done it all, right?

Not in Ed's mind, no.

Yes, he was a humble one – he never liked to be too proud of himself of doing whatever he did. But he was sick of getting all the credit, because he didn't deserve them. At all.

Every time they helped someone, Ed would be the one always getting the thank-yous and Al would just be brushed aside as a helper boy or whatever people liked to call him.

But Al wasn't a helper boy. He was actually the one doing all the work. He was the one running to the trouble first, making sure that everyone gets outs safely, always putting the others before himself, and asking each person to see if they were all right. Ed was just beating the crap out of the bad people, and the passers-by would just see him do that, suppose that he did all the work, and run over to him to thank him for saving them, despite Al standing in the background, helping the actual people in danger, while Ed grabbed the spotlight, although he wasn't trying to. It just always ended up that way.

And he was sick of it.

Ed felt so frustrated every time he got all the credit because inside, he knew that his brother was the one who deserved it all, the thank-yous.

And that's not all. While Ed gets all the credit, Al would often be pushed out by the amazed people who were desperate to thank Ed, and getting scratches and gashes all over him.

Today, he got hurt much worse.

When Ed finally chased all of these grateful people away, he sighed.

"Gee, they never know when to stop, do they-"

And he was cut off mid-sentence, when he set his eyes on an unexpected sight.

That particular day had been quite rough - there were lots of females in the crowd, and they said they heard about the "Legendary Alchemist", who saved people every day. And they probably got excited, and didn't notice the tired boy whose legs were already weak from running everywhere to help. Yes, the crowds were quite rough that day. And Ed noticed it, too, and tried to keep a close eye on his brother.

But not close enough.

Ed saw a crowd in the middle of a busy road, and got through the crowd after a few hard squeezes. What he saw caught him by surprise.

His brother was lying on the ground, with blood pouring down his face and his body still. He had scratches all over his hands and legs, and his eyes were shut firmly.

"Al!"


	2. Chapter 2

My deepest thank-yous to everyone who read my stories and reviewed!

I am SO happy to hear that people like it, especially because it's my first fanfiction and I wasn't sure if it was a story worth publishing or not, but I did it anyway, and I'm glad I did.

So, back to the story…

"Al!"

There was Al, lying unconscious on the road. Blood was dripping down the side of his face, and he didn't show any signs of movement. Ed hurriedly swooped down and gently lifted the limp form in his arms and screamed at the crowd to call an ambulance, hoping that it would come in time.

While they waited, Ed wiped away the blood from his brother's face and asked the surrounding people what had happened to his little brother.

A teenage girl stepped out of the crowd. He recognized her from the desperate fan girls who were trying so desperately to get his autographs.

"I saw him trip onto the road and a car came speeding down and hit the boy. He fell pretty hard, and he never moved after that. The car just drove away. I think they were afraid that they would get in trouble or whatever."

Panic swallowed Ed. He fell pretty hard, so it must have been a pretty bad hit. Was his brother okay?

Then a wave of guilt struck him.

It was all his fault that this happened to Al. He should have kept a sharper eye on his brother, but he didn't, even though he knew that the crowds were rougher than usual. If anything serious happened to him, if he received really bad injuries, if he got permanent damage, if he dies-

_Stop, Ed, stop_. He thought to himself amidst all his mixed-up feelings overwhelming him. _Panicking isn't going to help Al survive. See – there I go again! Of course Al's going to survive! Right_?

Just then, the ambulance arrived, and Ed quickly stood up and laid his brother gently on the lifter (I have no idea what the proper name is) and hopped onto the ambulance as the car began to drive away from the pool of blood from the accident.

_Al, please be okay…_

Sorry it had to be so short! The next chapter will be longer though!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again!

I couldn't wait to upload another chapter. I've been so occupied with other things, so I am very sorry that I took so long to write more.

Again, please review so that I can make improvements in my writing. I really appreciate all the reviews that you have given me so far - I am very encouraged!

And… enjoy!

Al opened his eyes slowly as light flooded his sight. He had been sliding in and out of consciousness. He felt better now, although his body still ached, especially in his leg and chest.

Where was he? What was he doing here? Why did his entire body hurt so much?

"Al! You're awake!" squeaked Ed, his voice filled with relief.

"Brother – where am I?" asked Al, his voice hoarse.

"In the hospital. You were hit by a car in that town with those robbers. Those excited crowds pushed you onto the road, and a car came along and…" Ed's voice faded as guilt washed over him.

Al pushed himself up with great effort and sat up, rubbing his sore eyes. "So how long was I here for?"

"Two days. You were unconscious the whole time – I was worried sick!"

"I didn't have any serious injuries or anything, did I?"

"A few bruised ribs and twisted ankle. Good thing it wasn't anything too big." Ed smiled weakly at his brother, still not being able to get over the guilt.

Al saw the troubled expression on his brother's face, and sighed.

"Oh, brother, not again."

"Huh?"

"Don't blame it all on yourself again. It really wasn't your fault. Like you said, no biggie. So don't' worry about it, 'kay?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. Just brush it off and forget about it. I feel fine!" Al smiled reassuringly, pushing the guilt off Ed's mind.

"Really, brother, I'll recover real soon, and when I do, we'll get out of here and continue our way to Central. I shouldn't have held us up."

"Don't rush yourself, Al. I would actually like it if you took your time… as much as you could, so that we don't have to see the annoying, flirty, bossy, selfish, outrageous Colonel."

Al laughed. "Brother, same as always."

Ed grinned. "Can't help myself. Every time I think of him, I really feel like punching something…"

"Well, let's not go that far," giggled Al.

"Yeah, I'll try. So take your time to get better, Al. Don't rush yourself, okay?"

"Got it," nodded Al, lying down again, as Ed walked out of the room for some fresh air.

On the roof of the building, Ed sighed as he leaned against the bars and crouched down. The guilt caught him again, and Ed couldn't help but think that all of this shouldn't have happened if he paid more attention to Al; he even noticed that the crowds were more excited than the usual ones.

_And because of my carelessness, Al's in the hospital. How stupider can I get? No, I mustn't blame myself…Al didn't get hurt too much. And feeling guilty isn't going to do him any good in recovering. But if only I kept a more careful eye on Al… Ugh… I should stop thinking, but I can't. _

Then another thought came to his mind, with a big impact.

_How could I forget? If Al had gotten more of the credit from his helping, he would be just as famous as me, or more! I'm taking all the attention from him to myself just because I'm a stupid State Alchemist! It's all my fault that Al isn't getting all the credit that he deserves… He's the one actually helping people, while I sign autographs and boast about people thank me and compliment me in how great I am. This isn't right. Al wouldn't have gotten hurt if I didn't hog all the attention to myself. _

_This is all my fault!_


End file.
